In order to carry out open pit mining activities for coal and other minerals, large drag line machines are utilized to strip away overburden in order to expose the minerals for removal. Large drag line machines are employed which are provided with large buckets. Each of the drag line buckets is provided with a bridle having one or more chains extending from the bridle. The drag line machine employs a large draw works mechanism from which extends one or more large cables which are typically referred to in the industry as rope or wire rope. In order to establish a connection between the wire rope and the chain of the drag line bucket, large wire rope connectors are employed which are secured by pins or clevises to the end link of the bridle chain. These large wire rope connectors define a tapered internal socket within which is received a wire rope restraining wedge having an arcuate peripheral groove receiving the end portion of the wire rope. The wire rope is installed by extending it through the socket of the wire rope connector and by looping the end portion of the rope about the peripheral groove of a wedge that is unseated from the socket. The wedge with the rope disposed thereabout is then inserted into the tapered socket. Force is then applied to the wire rope while restraining the free end sufficiently to force the wedge tightly into the socket. When this occurs the end portion of the wire rope will be tightly secured to the wire rope connector by means of the binding activity of the wedge. As drag line operations are conducted force is applied to the wire rope by the draw works of the drag line mechanism. This force tends to more tightly seat the wedge within the socket and thus more tightly bind the end portion of the wire rope. In fact the wire rope and wedge often become so tightly seated within the socket that it is very difficult to accomplish unseating of the wedge by means of conventional equipment or tools.
During operation of the drag line mechanism, the wire rope may tend to slip thereby pulling partially from its looped condition about the wedge. In other cases the wire rope may become completely separated from its wedged connection with the wire rope connector or the wire rope may break. In these cases it is necessary to reconnect the wire rope with the wire rope connector. Frequently the wedge and wire rope will have become so tightly seated within the socket that it may be necessary to cut the wire rope away such as through use of a cutting torch, cutting chisels, etc. When wire rope repair or replacement becomes necessary it is desirable to forcibly unseat the wire rope wedge from its socket. In this case, the practice in the industry has been to employ a winch truck for supporting a battering ram in position so that the end portion of the battering ram will strike the small end of the wedge. The battering ram is then manipulated by a number of workers and is swung back and forth causing its end to strike the small end of the wedge. Obviously the wedge may be damaged during this process thus requiring its replacement. Use of a battering ram for removing wire rope wedges has proven to be a hazardous operation from the standpoint of personnel safety. Many workers have been injured as the heavy battering ram is manually moved back and forth during battering activities. In addition to the dangerous nature of removing wire rope wedges by means of batteriwng rams, the wedge removal activity typically requires a number of hours of battering activity to unseat the wedge because the wedge will have been seated by a pulling force on the wire rope which may be in the range of 2,000,000 pounds.
It is desirable therefore to provide a mechanism for simply and efficiently unseating wire rope wedges from wire rope connectors to minimize labor requirements, to render the wedge removal operation safe and to minimize drag line equipment down time for this type of repair operation.